Which to use
“clans” and “crans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,127
- “clans” frequency rank
- #41,202
- “crans” frequency rank
- 53329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clans | crans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de clan. | Pluriel de cran. |
Where the eye mixes clans and crans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. clans and crans follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: clans vs crans
A purely visual mix-up. clans (\klɑ̃\) and crans (\kʁɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - l in “clans” becomes r in “crans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clans is recorded at frequency rank #12,127, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃\. crans is at rank #41,202, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɑ̃\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 53329, this pair ranks #141,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clans vs crans
Shared letters: acns. Private to "clans": l. Private to "crans": r.
"clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clans" and "crans" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "clans" or "crans"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clans" and "crans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clans" and "crans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCAS vs crans". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #141,482 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.